Thanks guys, for the welcome to what I think is a forum with a heap of potential to grow! As promised, here is a brief profile of my 3rd KP6* Starlet I have owned, a genuine JDM spec KP61 XL Lisse (yeah yeah... I know they were aimed at women ).

I initially purchased the car for $400 NZD, which for a road legal KP61 Starlet 2dr, was very very cheap, as the popularity of drifting has pushed up prices of small RWD vehicles considerably.

I am the 6th owner, it was brought into the country in 1986, and it has travelled 167,000 kilometres as of the present. It runs a factory 4K-U (Jap emissions spec... all the emissions gear is long gone however) K40 4 speed 'box, and a 3.4:1 ratio X code 5.6" diff, which is shared by all Lisse spec models.

Here she is as I purchased it in October 2005, after a thorough clean:

The paint was a bit tatty, it had several touchups on it, and a few very amateur rust repairs in both doors, however it had an intact interior, and the main structure of the car itself was in very good condition barring a myriad of shopping trolley type dents.

The first step I took was to replace the fender mirrors which had been removed by a previous owner, so I tracked down a set from an early 80's Toyota Corona, and bolted them on. They're a much smoother, rounder item than the original KP items, and they sit a little lower. I do have a set of KP mirrors to bolt on should I feel the need however.

In between times, I began accumulating parts - the first being a set of SSR Mark 1 14x6" alloy wheels.

I also acquired a free 1983 KP61 Starlet Sprint - the Sprint was a new Zealand only model, it had a 4K with K50, 3.58:1 U code diff, very comfy sports seats and model specific alloy wheels (not the ones shown). This car pictured below was only acquired for a few bits... the aftermarket alloys on it I had on my car briefly before I sold them at a handsome profit, but the car also came with a full 2" exhaust system and a set of 4-1 headers.

The wheels, and them on my car for a time:

The standard issue shocks and springs had also seen far better days, so they met the bin and were replaced by a set of uprated springs, and a set of Monroe shocks (which I won't be buying again, but that's another story!)

I finally managed to get my SSR's tidied up, and got a set of 185/60 R14 Goodyears on them... then bolted them on the car after selling the others:

The next step was planning an engine build/conversion. Being something of a fan of the K series engine, I figured the best step was for me to go with the biggest I could easily obtain and install, so this meant 5K. I tracked down (with the help of a friend) a derelict 1987 Toyota Liteace van which had been off the road for some time due to rust problems, and ended up driving it home (kids... I don't endorse driving vehicles with excessive play in the steering box, rust holes in the floor, and no plates) after offering the owner $80. Turns out the motor is a gem, it showed fantastic compression across all 4 cylinders, after removing the head, it was proved that the bores were in good condition, and the internals are all very clean with minimal baked on crap - signs of regular maintenance. Here's the van, in case someone is interested:

Plans for the motor include a ported and polished head, 1mm oversize valves, twin DCOE Weber or DHLA Dellorto 40mm sidedrafts, a cam grind that will ideally produce a fat midrange whack of power, custom 4-2-1 headers, and upped compression.

Next on the accumulation trail, I spied an old R30 Nissan Skyline sedan rotting on a front lawn of a house.... with a particularly interesting set of wheels on it. I aproached the owners, and yes, they wanted to get rid of the car, and yes, I could take it away for $100. So, I sold the car itself to a friend of mine who has a couple of these Skylines, and took home a set of ultra rare SSR Bright Speed Racing 3pc wheels in a 14x6.5" size with a generous amount of dish on them for the size. Very very pleased with this acquisition, even if they do require a bit of refurbishment before they'll be fit to bolt on to the car:

And then it was onto the big one - 18 months after purchasing the car, and driving it daily, I finally decided to splash out and get the bodywork seen to. After dismantling the car, it was found that structural rust was almost non-existent, there was a small amount of surface rust below the drivers side rear window seal, and a more major hole in the bulkhead above the brake booster, a typical spot where the KP6* Starlet's rust. I has previously source replacement doors, and a replacement tailgate (due to rust that was uneconomical to repair compared to the cost of replacement panels) so they were fitted prior to it's trip to the body shop:

It came back looking like this, straight as an arrow, in the original Toyota red.

Fairly soon it was safe home in my garage and reassembly commenced, after a week of nights after work reassembling carefully, it emerged in one piece, it was returned to a legal condition (registered, and it passed it's Warrant of Fitness check) and is in the state seen in these photos:

It now has the SSR Mark 1's back on it, I will endeavour to get hold of some photo's as it sits... but tonight I am embarking on a 2.5hr drive to pick up yet another set of wheels, this time a set of 14x6.5" Hayashi Street Fins, which as far as wheels on KP's go, are my ultimate set of rims.

Hiya Snoozin! Although I've been following the gradual build-up of this car on Retro-Rides it's great to see a summary of the story all in one place.

My old KP61 5dr is currently having some work done on it by its new owner, though whether it's this thorough I'm not sure. Here the biggest influence on RWD Starlets has traditionally come from the 1/4-mile oval racing scene where Starlets were hugely popular so we don't usually get to see them with all the JDM-inspired stuff.

Killer deal on those Bright Stars!! I would have paid many times more just for the wheels themselves but you got a whole car out of it!

Great Starlet too! Love those red-striped seats... they sure don't make them like that any more, at least not in the States. What exactly is the Lisse?

The Lisse, as far as I can tell was a model pitched at the female market. Facelift KP's with the slant nose, and the tailgate that drops between the rear lights also came in this spec, as did the lesser specced sister of the AE86, the AE85. They were almost all automatic (which explains the 3.4:1 diff ratio in mine) had the distinctive stripes as you see in the early shots of my car (in 2 minds as to replace them) had the white velour/vinyl trimmed interior with maroon plastics and highlights. They also had vanity mirrors in both sunvisors (mine doesn't have original ones, but I have sourced a pair!) and a center console which is reputedly designed to house makeup

They were effectively a variation on the XL model, which was a mid-spec version of the KP61. So they had air-con, electric mirrors and all that other guff the XL had.

I'll post up some photo's from my sales brochures I managed to get hold of, it has quite a good interior shot of a Lisse.

rmad - there will be pics aplenty also, expect my first foray into a "spotted" thread on RR.

Snoozin... i love your car man. very rare i see Lissé being done up. i have a North American Starlet but i just bought a Lissé grille from a guy in Cali and if i'm not mistaken, we're the only 2 in North America that has them grille. i'm making my own Lissé side stripe stripes, window decals and possibly make my own rear badge but i'm copying the OEM ones. check out my thread to see the sample of my work. i did an "S" model side stripes before check my thread to see 'em.

I replaced my Lisse badge with the one on the grille currently, purely for aesthetic reasons, as I prefer the one on there at present... that one actually came off a KP61V which is the van/wagon model that I found derelict in a wreckers. The badge is still sitting on the shelf at home however, but it has lost it's factory colouring and is now only silver in colour.

The rear badge is pretty much the same as across the board - the Lisse had the standard [TOYOTA|starlet] badge in the contrasting black/white on the RHS, with the XL badge in white on the LHS.

I've put an early model (round headlight) script type badge on the tailgate as well, as I prefer the simplicity, but if the need ever arises I still have all the originals for it.

You've got the same brochures as me, that saves me the effort of taking the photo's and posting them... and I'll be sure to check your thread out!

Sometimes the sheer marketing will of the Japanese automakers cracks me up. Slap a few decals on it, give it some exclusive badging and and an extra name and voila, a whole new demographic! It's still being done today, especially with the kei cars. But like Spottedlaurel said elsewhere on this forum, that's why we love them, right?

So, I picked these up on Friday night, and after a 5hr round trip to get them, fitted them up for a quick trial.

They're genuine Hayashi Street Fins, 14x6.5 with a 0 offset.... unfortunately they don't quite fit, the rear is fine, as the lip is flush with the rear guard, but the fronts stick out about an inch past the guards.

I don't really want to put flares on the car, and guard modding is a bit of a sore point due to having painted it only a month ago.... any ideas, I desperately want these rims on the car.

I recall the difference in front and rear arches when I fitted alloys to my KP61, the difference was noticeable even with wheels of 17mm offset. Front was about right, but rears seemed to sit a bit too far in.

I think that's what it's gonna have to be, I really want to fit these to the car.... 175/60's will be likely what will be thrown on, the rears are fine, it's only the fronts I need to be concerned about.

I will likely end up saving my pennies, buying a spare set of guards and getting them flared subtley to make them fit I think.... in a few months time.

You can stretch the front fenders to match the rear width. Grasp the arch lip and slowly pull out as you work around the radius). You can get about .5" or 12.7mm without too much trouble. Warm up the paint on the fender with a hair dryer or a heat gun(be careful with that one- dont get it too hot) to keep it from cracking or flaking. Just go easy!

Snoozin.. here's the sample of the Lissé fender decals. it needs some fine tuning sizewise. i don't know what's wrong with the photo but the print is much better than it looks. i used my phone to take that, i should use an actual digicam so you can see much clearer. if you can give me an exact size that would help us both. i also need some input on the thickness of the side stripes. btw, do you know any other Lissé owners?

Bit the bullet and refurbed them, still needs a damn good spot of droppage but thats in the works. Car has come off the road now, coilovers are being made, pulling the old 4K, replacing with a 5K, K50 and 4.1:1 6" diff..... hopefully she'll be rockin' come summer time, low, cambered, and torquier than before. Better pics to follow, that one was taken up at oldschool.co.nz nationals.